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Rising to environmental challenges

we’re proud to be part of Buxton’s beautiful landscape. So naturally, sustainability and the protection of our resources are at the heart of everything we do.

Energy and water sustainability, through and through

At Buxton, we’re working towards our ambition for zero environmental impact by 2030. In 2013, we opened our new state-of-the-art factory at Waterswallows in Buxton, one of Europe’s most innovative and efficient bottling facilities. Designed and built with sustainability at its core, it enabled us to achieve an ‘excellent’ BREEAM grading – another independent certification, which takes into account the site’s energy and water use, transport infrastructure and ecology. In 2016 the factory switched to 100% renewable electricity, with nearly 30% of this sourced through Derwent Hydroelectric Power, a local hydroelectricity producer. And the design of the factory takes inspiration from the beautiful Peak District landscape through its curved roof and stone gabion basket walls.

We are committed to promoting a sustainable and circular economy.

Forward-thinking packaging

All our bottles are made from PET (polyethylene terephthalate). Why you must be thinking?

Well, PET is one of the best packaging materials for the beverage industry, combining recyclability with characteristics such as lightness, durability, transparency and providing optimum product quality. Life Cycle Assessment conducted by RDC environment and PIRA in 2001 also showed that PET has the best environmental performance amongst all beverage packaging that’s distributed more than 200 kilometres.

PET also has one of the most developed collection and recycling systems in the world, making it a key asset for the Circular Economy of plastics. It can be easily reused in a wide range of applications, such as the textile industry and more important, in making new bottles, where it substitutes new (virgin) PET.Compared with using new plastic materials, 75% less energy is used to make a bottle from recycled plastic. That’s why all of our bottles now contain recycled plastic.

Today, our bottles contain at least 20% recycled plastic and we remain committed to increasing this amount in the near future. To demonstrate the value of recycled plastic, we helped build the world’s first boat made from 99% recycled plastic. A 12-seater punt christened the ‘Poly-Mer’, it’s used to educate school children about the value of plastic recycling. For more information, click here.

We’re not stopping there though, joining forces with Danone, Pepsi and Origin Material to form the NaturALL Bottle Alliance, together, we’re creating and launching a bio-based plastic bottle made from 100% sustainable and renewable resources.

And we are proud members of the WRAP Plastic Pact, which aims to create a circular economy for plastics. Plus, working with OPRL (On-Pack Recycling Label), we’ve also made it easier to find out more information about the recyclability of our products via their new app, which from April 2019 can be downloaded here.

A refreshing approach to water bottle recycling

All our bottles are 100% recyclable –even the cap, and we are committed to a circular economy as all our bottles contain recycled plastic. This means our empty bottles aren’t a waste, they are a valuable resource to be used again and again. That’s why we work hard to make sure they can fulfil their potential. Like turning them into an all-plastic boat, new bottles, and much more besides…

Did you know?

We’ve teamed up with RECOUP and Wastebusters on our R-Generation school programme, to promote and improve recycling in schools. As part of our plastic bottle recycling efforts, we’ve created a host of exciting local student educational materials (aged 7-14), which can be downloaded here.

Not only that, to encourage our Buxton community to recycle on-the-go, we’ve placed 60 recycling bins across our home town.

And our bigger sponsorship events such as the Virgin Money London Marathon help us reach even greater numbers with our plastic bottle recycling messages – and encourage more people to become involved with reducing plastic waste.

Caring for Water

Water is one of the most important sustainability challenges facing society and our business. That’s why we’re fully committed to responsible water stewardship, safeguarding our water resources for future generations.

In 2018, Nestlé Waters announced it will extend its commitment to water stewardship by certifying all of its sites to the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) Standard by 2025. The global standard promotes responsible water use that benefits local communities socially and economically, while ensuring environmental sustainability of watersheds – all priorities for Nestlé Waters.

Through this process, we want to promote improved collaboration and collective actions with our stakeholders in the water catchment area. We are currently working towards to certifying our UK site in Buxton by 2021 where we bottle Buxton natural mineral water and Nestlé Pure Life spring water.

Caring for Water through water stewardship is a key focus for us here at Buxton, and is why we centred this year’s UN World Water Day celebrations on hosting an open and meaningful discussion with other water users on how we can all make positive impacts towards the water resources we share in Derbyshire.

We opened our factory doors and welcomed people with a passionate interest in protecting local water resources, including representatives from the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), The Peak District National Park Authority, Natural England, to discuss water stewardship and ways to implement and improve water-friendly land management practices.

Plus, along with 60 other UK businesses, we’ve signed up to the Catchment Management Declaration by the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, which aims to tackle water scarcity in the UK.

Community

Pushing ahead with partnerships

We’re absolutely thrilled to announce a major partnership with the Buxton Crescent Heritage Trust in Buxton. Our four-year sponsorship will see us all work to create an innovative visitor experience, due to open at the famous Crescent Hotel and Pump room late in 2019.

Together we’ve got exciting plans for an interactive, hands on Visitor Experience where anyone can discover and learn more about Buxton, especially how our world-famous water helped shaped the town and surrounding area. We’ll also deliver water inspired events in the Pump Room and stunning Crescent Assembly Room, as well as other community benefits.

Putting Buxton first

We couldn’t be more proud to be a part of Buxton and active in its vibrant community. That’s why we’ve sponsored The Buxton Wells Dressing since 1992. And why we’re there every year at the Buxton Carnival and Buxton Spring Fair. At last year’s spring fair, in partnership with RECOUP, we hosted an interactive roadshow to raise awareness about the importance of recycling plastics and the lifecycle of plastic drink bottles. Plus, we donated a table tennis table made by Marmax Recycled Plastic Products from recycled plastic to Buxton Community School, and a park bench in Cote Heath Park.

We’re are proud to be a strong local employer with over 77% of our Buxton factory staff living within 15-miles of our state-of-the-art factory. We also partnered with the University of Derby, collaborating closely with students studying Wellness Management. As part of their course, students undertook research at our Buxton facility, to find out how line managers support wellness in the workplace and to see how Nestlé Waters could roll out even better working practices. This project gave students the opportunity to gain first hand practical experience of a real life working environment

And working with the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, we’ve created and funded Get Better with Nature, a community programme to help raise the awareness and understanding of the natural world. For a full list of our up-and-coming activities in and around Buxton, please click here.